Afghan Commercial Counselor in Iran Abdulhamid Farhang has invited Iranian economic players to embark on joint investments in Afghanistan, saying the country is in dire need of infrastructure. Farhang added that since Afghanistan is now a member of World Trade Organization, investments are insured by the World Bank and other international institutions, Mehr News Agency reported. WTO ministers formally approved Afghanistan’s WTO membership terms at a special ceremony on 17 December, 2015, held at the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. According to Farhang, there is high demand for Iranian products in Afghanistan. “Fields of information technology, electricity, telecommunications, water, energy and technical and engineering services are areas at which Iran is proficient, and Afghanistan is willing to import products and services,” he said. The Afghan official assured Iranian traders that import tariffs on their products are 0.5-4% and there is no discrimination in this regard between Iran and WTO members, of which Iran became an observer member in 2005. Farhang called on Iran to organize more specialized exhibitions in Afghanistan to further introduce Iranian products to the neighboring country.
